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Va. police kill plan for explicit photos of teen

Michael Winter, USA TODAY
5:21 p.m. EDT July 10, 2014

Manassas police have already taken photos of the genitals of a 17-year-old boy facing child-pornography charges for sending an explicit video to his 15-year-old girlfriend, his lawyer says.(Photo: Manassas City Police Department)

Police in Northern Virginia have backed off plans to coercively photograph the erection of a 17-year-old charged with child pornography for allegedly sexting an explicit video to his 15-year-old girlfriend.

A day after the case received notoriety, the Manassas City Police Department announced Thursday that a search warrant to gather additional photographic evidence would not be executed.

"When I found out about it, we determined we would not proceed," Chief Douglas Keen told WRC-TV, which first reported the story last week.

Before the announcement, the department reiterated statements from a press release late Wednesday: "It is not the policy of the Manassas City Police or the Commonwealth Attorney's Office to authorize invasive search procedures of suspects in cases of this nature and no such procedures have been conducted in this case."

Because the teen is being prosecuted as a juvenile, USA TODAY is not naming him.

The boy was initially detained and charged in late January, but charges were dismissed last month on a technicality. Prosecutors refiled charges, and police formally arrested him, seized his iPhone and iPad and took photos of his genitals against his will, according to his lawyer, Jessica Foster.

She said prosecutors and police threatened to take him to a hospital and medically induce an erection with an injection if he did not cooperate. A judge approved a second search warrant last week after police and prosecutors said they needed to compare photos to the video.

The case went to trial last week, and a court hearing is scheduled for Tuesday. Foster told WRC she would seek to have all photos taken so far declared inadmissible as evidence.

The boy is charged with felony counts of manufacturing and distributing child pornography. If convicted, he could be jailed until he's 21 and placed on the state's sex-offender list.